First look: Microsoft Office 2013

Installed and ready to go

On July 16, 2012, Microsoft made available a preview version of Office 2013. While all the typical parts of the familiar productivity suite are still here, there is a definite change of philosophy – Office 2013 is tablet-ready and Windows 8 friendly.

TechRepublic will be diving headlong into the various parts of Office 2013 until it is released, but I thought you might want to get a quick overview of what's coming.

As you can see, Office 2013 fits right in with the Windows 8 Metro interface.

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

Word open screen

Since I practically live in Word, I started by clicking that tile. The Metrofication of all things Office is obvious from the moment you start.

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

Word 2013 document screen

The Word application has taken on a more minimalist feel. The first thing I noticed is the all caps menu - very strange.

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

Word 2013 Files menu items

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

Word 2013 Options

The Word 2013 options menu is very similar to the options menu in 2010. This will be an interesting place to explore in the coming months.

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

Excel 2013 opening screen

The Excel 2013 opening screen is similar to Words, with various templates featured. You can also see there is a tour - that's a nice idea that I'll have to examine closer.

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

Excel 2013

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

Excel 2013 file menu

The Excel 2013 files menu has much the same set of features as Word. Note the SkyDrive reference - the cloud plays a prominent role in this version of Office.

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

Outlook 2013 wizard

Outlook 2013 starts with the familar wizard that will lead you through the process of setting up an email account. I decided not to do that right now.

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

Outlook 2013

The Outlook 2013 screen is similar to 2010, which I really like. Some say Outlook is too cluttered, but I disagree.

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

Access 2013

Access is not used by every Office user, but those that do make good use of it. The power of a well-constructed database cannot be denied. Access 2013 offers several templates to help you get started.

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

PowerPoint 2013 templates

We all have a love/hate relationship with PowerPoint that I don't think is going to go away with PowerPoint 2013.

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

PowerPoint 2013

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

Right-click a tile to get options

The one thing that you should do for any application you use often in Windows 8 is pin it to the Taskbar.

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

Pinned Word 2013 to the Taskbar

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

OneNote 2013

Some people are very fond of OneNote and with a close tie to SkyDrive, I can see more users adopting and adapting to the application. I'm going to check out the video - perhaps I will gain a better appreciation for OneNote 2013.

We'll take a deeper look at Office 2013 in the next few weeks, but this First Look gallery should give you an overview of what you can expect with Office 2013.

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

Installed and ready to go

On July 16, 2012, Microsoft made available a preview version of Office 2013. While all the typical parts of the familiar productivity suite are still here, there is a definite change of philosophy – Office 2013 is tablet-ready and Windows 8 friendly.

TechRepublic will be diving headlong into the various parts of Office 2013 until it is released, but I thought you might want to get a quick overview of what's coming.

As you can see, Office 2013 fits right in with the Windows 8 Metro interface.

All images by Mark Kaelin prepared for TechRepublic. All rights reserved.

About Mark Kaelin

Mark W. Kaelin has been writing and editing stories about the IT industry, gadgets, finance, accounting, and tech-life for more than 25 years. Most recently, he has been a regular contributor to BreakingModern.com, aNewDomain.net, and TechRepublic.

Full Bio

Mark W. Kaelin has been writing and editing stories about the IT industry, gadgets, finance, accounting, and tech-life for more than 25 years. Most recently, he has been a regular contributor to BreakingModern.com, aNewDomain.net, and TechRepublic.